1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to managing assets in a file system or other data storage, and more particularly to managing assets on Web servers.
2. Description of the Related Art
The World Wide Web and other information repositories such as online databases and file servers afford quick access to a large amount of information. Typically, assets on the Web, e.g., Web pages, display not only information but also include reference pointers, referred to as hyperlinks, to other assets (e.g., Web pages, images, audio files, etc.) on the Web. A user browser can be operated to select a hyperlink and thereby cause the pointed-to asset to be displayed on a user's computer. It is to be appreciated that while the discussion below focusses on the Web, the present invention is also directed to file servers in which the assets can be files that might include reference pointers to other files in the system.
To create a Web page with attendant hyperlinks, a software program known as an authoring tool can be used. Authoring tools, however, do not guarantee that pointed-to assets are actually published (i.e., written to the Web server). Also, as understood by the present invention authoring tools typically maintain internal/local repositories of information and can perform local checks on the validity of links, but they do not directly manage the final published assets on the Web server and, hence, cannot guarantee link validity after publication. Moreover, since asset management is typically not coordinated, new versions of pointed-to assets can be published and new versions of pointing assets can be published with old, out-of-date hyperlinks. Furthermore, the lack of asset management on the Web server can result in an asset being moved, inadvertently or maliciously, from where the hyperlink indicates the asset is. Often, pointers to assets become valid only after the pointed-to assets are placed by hand on the server via a manual or automated process (e.g., a program). Consequently, it is frequently the case that a user selecting a hyperlink will be presented with a “file not found” message. This is time consuming and frustrating.
The present invention has carefully considered the above problems and has provided the solution set forth herein to provide guarantees that links are not broken (no “file not found” messages). It also provides, among other things, access control, version control, selective management based on metadata (by author, linkage, date, group information, etc.), individual and bulk asset management with integrity of reference pointers, and coordinated backup and recovery of metadata and assets.